Shopping mall gets a re-brand as massive downtown re-development plans take shape in Pickering

It’s going on a quarter-century since Pickering made the official transformation from ‘Town’ to ‘City’ and the retail hub of the community, the half-century old Pickering Town Centre, made its own name change Wednesday, with the 203-store mall now known as ‘The Shops at Pickering City Centre.’

The re-brand, which will include signage, website, social media, and other updates to reflect the new name, follows news of the massive master-planned community arriving on site in the coming years.

The downtown transformation of the Pickering City Centre project (led by a partnership between CentreCourt Development, Salthill Capital and Cowie Capital) is one of the largest and most ambitious mixed-use developments in Canada and will be tied in to the shopping mall.

The project will see a 55-acre community with 12,000 residential units in 20 mixed-use condominium developments with heights ranging from nine to 55 storeys.

Pickering CityCentre will also include nearly 130,000 square feet of office space in the first phase, with the office component also getting a re-brand as ‘The Offices at Pickering City Centre.’

Part of the east side of the mall has already been demolished to make way for the new development but the rest of the shopping mall will remain largely intact and form an integral part of the project, which has a spokesperson for the development partners “very excited” about the future as the mall becomes a “pillar” of the new community.

“Pickering Town Centre has been a community hub for many loyal customers and exciting brands, and we aim to build on this reputation as we develop Pickering City Centre,” said Salthill General Manager of Property Management Eva Chapman. “The development will offer residential, office, and of course retail, with the aim of better servicing the community and maintaining our position as the first choice for the Pickering community to live, dine, shop, and play.”

A press release from Salthill also invited retailers to “get in at the ground floor” of what will become the “cornerstone” of the new downtown in the rapidly growing city.

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said at the unveiling of the plans for the project last year the City Centre project has already brought a “new energy and buzz to the mall, where more retailers, brands, shops, and restaurants are vying to be part of this.”

“This signature development, located in the heart of our city centre, will bring the density where it should be.”

The project, which was also to include a performing arts centre (put on hold because of rising costs) has been on-again, off-again, for nearly a decade, with plans halted early in the pandemic and again in 2022 when sky-rocketing supply chain costs put the price tag out of reach.

CentreCourt and its partners secured the shopping mall and surrounding lands in early 2023 and announced their plans last August.

“Pickering City Centre is an unparalleled opportunity to transform a cherished community hub into a modern downtown destination,” CentreCourt President and managing partner Gavin Cheung said at the launch. “We are proud to be a part of this natural evolution, and to ensure Pickering City Centre becomes a true, complete community.”

The new Pickering City Centre will be designed to take advantage of existing commercial, retail and institutional uses, including the newly-named mall and the adjacent Pickering City Hall. New at-grade retail will complement these existing uses and connect the community via tree-lined streets, enhanced sidewalks, and active pedestrian walkways for people to work, live or play in a new urban centre.

The residential development will take place on the lands to the east of the existing mall. At the southern boundary of the site there is a direct connection to the Pickering GO Train Station via a pedestrian bridge.

Award-winning Toronto architecture firm Diamond Schmitt was brought in to oversee the design.

The first phase of the development will include four residential towers (from 40 to 55 storeys) that will house about 2,200 residents.

The community is invited to the mall on May 25 at 11 a.m. to celebrate the re-branding.

The newly re-named Shops at Pickering City Centre